Borren joined Szwarczynski with his side on a precarious 34 for three chasing HCC’s fairly imposing 230 for nine, and gradually they turned the game in VRA’s favour. Szwarczynski was outstandingly caught and bowled by Ryan Ninan when he had made a patient 136-ball 71, but with 18 still needed Borren finished the job in imperious style, posting the highest of his three Topklasse centuries and hitting the winning runs with five balls to spare.
Earlier, Jonathan Vandiar was again among the runs, top-scoring for HCC with 76. Tonny Staal and Hidde Overdijk each contributed 36 and Ninan 28, but the rest of the batting was unable to take the total beyond the reach of VRA’s old stagers.
The wickets were shared among the VRA bowlers, with Borren and Haseeb Gul Mian taking two apiece, while Reinier Bijloos took two for HCC.
The top-of-the-table clash between Excelsior ’20 and HBS was not as close as many would have expected, not least because an injury to wicketkeeper Tobias Visée took his replacement, Jaron Morgan, out of the HBS attack.
But the really decisive moment probably came from the fourth ball of the match, when Lorenzo Ingram, the left-arm spinner who took the new ball precisely to deal with the threat of Visée’s aggressive start, induced the HBS captain to attempt a powerful sweep and bowled him round his legs.
HBS never really recovered from this blow, and although Corey Rutgers (35), Morgan (31) and Ferdi Vink (31) all got decent starts no-one was able to convert this into a major innings. Ingram continued to pose a threat and finished with five for 22, and in truth the visitors did well to recover from 95 for five to reach 198 for eight.
They needed early wickets when Excelsior replied, but a second-wicket stand of 105 between Tim Etman and Ingram effectively took the game out of their hands, and after Ingram departed for 37 James Hilditch helped Etman add the 60 their side needed to complete the victory.
Etman reached his maiden Topklasse century shortly before the end and finished on 110 not out, made from 119 deliveries with twelve fours and a six.
At Sportpark Drieburg Punjab returned to winning ways with a 25-run win over Dosti United. Opener Yasir Ali made 40 and then overseas players Soaib Minhaas and Khurram Shahzad carried on the good work with 46 and 37 respectively as the Topklasse newcomers reached 203 for eight.
Corné Dry took three for 33 for Dosti and Mahesh Hans three for 40, and the home side could afford to be reasonably satisfied with their efforts at the break.
But then two early run-outs hampered their reply, and although Taruwar Kohli made a fighting 62 he had insufficient support from the rest of the line-up. Dry chipped in with 23 and Gary Gravesande contributed a defiant 27 towards the end, but the innings closed on a disappointing 178, Ahsan Masood the most successful of the Punjab bowlers with three for 27.
VOC Rotterdam found scoring runs difficult at Nieuw Hanenburg, only opener Caleb Jewell (39) and internationals Pieter Seelaar (41) and Ahsan Malik Jamil (23) reaching double figures in a disappointing total of 141.
Quick skipper Jeroen Brand led the way with four wickets for 20, and took three catches into the bargain.
The home side’s response was dominated by Wesley Barresi, whose unbeaten 77 came from just 60 balls and included seven fours and four sixes. He and Jean Bredenkamp (38 not out) put on 83 in double-quick time, and Quick cruised to victory with almost 28 overs to spare.
A career-best innings of 92 by skipper Saqib Zulfiqar was the foundation of ACC’s total of 252 against struggling Hermes, he and brother Rehmat giving their side a great start with a second-wicket stand of 90.
Lokendra Bohra finally had Saqib caught behind and ran through the lower order to finish with five for 32, but ACC’s total proved more than enough to defeat the Schiedammers.
Daniel ter Braak found form with a solid 76, but his was the only significant innings in the score of 166, veteran Usman Malik taking three for 22 and Anis Raza and Said Ashiqullah picking up two apiece as ACC won with a comfortable 86-run margin.